Classic Buttermilk Waffles

{Update 03/14}: This is my all-time favorite, tried-and-true recipe for waffles. I will not make another recipe as long as I have buttermilk in the refrigerator (and if you don’t have buttermilk in the fridge, don’t fret, here’s a great tip on easy substitutions). They are light and fluffy and absolutely delicious. I’ve updated the recipe to cut back a bit on the butter and also detail how I use whole wheat flour in place of the all-purpose flour.

On another note, have you ever tried waffles with cheese? Don’t run away! Hear me out. Brian introduced me to cheese waffles when we were dating, and I was a huge skeptic at first. Can you blame me? But I quickly converted. You have to dismiss the idea that the cheese on the waffle is reminiscent to cheese on pizza. It’s nothing like the gooey, mounds of cheese you may be thinking of. Instead, it is a light, crunchy, salty texture that pairs so well with the sweet syrup and bready waffle. Right after pouring the batter into the waffle iron, sprinkle a couple tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese on top and promptly close the waffle iron to let the magic happen. It is worth trying, and hey, if you don’t like it, then no worries because these waffles are delicious without.

I often usually use at least half but sometimes 100% whole wheat flour (finely ground white wheat) for these and they are fantastic. Also, the old version of the recipe called for 8 tablespoons butter but for the last year I've made it with just 4 tablespoons and they are still tender and delicious.

Oh, I am so going to try this. I bet it is awesome. My mom is from Canada and always gets funny looks for putting cheddar cheese with her apple pie. It gets me thinking about a version of this, maybe with some baked apples and bacon. Hmmm… now you’ve really got me thinking! Nice work!

Can’t wait to try this! I grew up doing a similar thing with french toast. You just basically make a french toast grilled cheese, but then serve it with syrup. My husband has yet to convert, but I love it!

Hi Katie – this batch of waffles makes about 6 waffles on my circle belgian waffle maker, so it sounds like you might want to double, if not triple, the batch. You can always freeze the cooked waffles and reheat them if you have leftovers. Let me know how they turn out!

Okay, we didn’t try the cheese, but I just made these and they were so delicious! I was curious about Scott trying the buttermilk and he passed. I went out of the room for a minute and heard him making a funny noise…I thought he was having throat troubles but it turned out to be him grunting about how good they were. He said, “Mom! These are the best waffles I’ve ever eaten!”Thanks again Mel!

Wow, I thought my husband was weird. He will only eat pancakes if I cut up cheese chunks to cook them with. He loves them with coconut syrup! I’m glad to know he’s not the only crazy one, (I guess I am too because I learned to love them)!

My uncle’s family always has waffles for dinner every Sunday night, and they come up with all sorts of combinations. So I’m used to cheese waffles with syrup (yum!). Cheese and sausage waffles are also tasty, topped with syrup or salsa.

We had these for dinner last night, and I was a little hesitant to try the cheese. After a little nudge from the husband we did and it was delicious. This recipe is great. I did substitute one cup whole wheat flour and loved it that way! We will make these often. Even my two year-old liked them so much he was thrilled to see the left overs at breakfast. And I was thrilled to not make breakfast! Thanks as always for helping me figure out what to put on the table.

This is a great recipe! I make waffles at least 3x a week. I think the 3 tsp of leavener makes them airy inside instead of rubbery. I used a smooth, buttery evoo in place of the butter, and subbed 3/4 cup of the flour as whole wheat, and they were great!!!! I think you need oil in the recipe to make them come out crispy and stay crispy. Try it, and cut your cholesterol, saturated fat, and boost your fiber!! I don’t think you’ll miss the butter.

Sorry, ….prrrroooobably should have read the reviews below first. Can substitute with Whole Wheat Flour and they are still mmm mmm delicious Thanks Mel, and everyone else for your brilliant questions and suggestions… ignore my stupid question and carry on!

Oh my! I did not own a waffle iron, but I bought one last week just so I could try your waffles! We had them for supper tonight…some with cheese & some without. They were all WONDERFUL! Seriously, WONDERFUL!!!

Melanie, do you have a specific waffle maker that you would recommend? I’ve been debating over which brand to buy for a while, but don’t know anyone that has used a waffle maker before. I think I would prefer one where I could make four waffles at once, but so many at the stores seem cheap. Sorry if someone already asked this…I didn’t go through all the posts! Thanks!

Hi Jessi – I use a really old Black and Decker model that my husband used before we got married. It looks similar to this model. I bought a few four-waffle makers a few years back and had awful luck with them – the waffles stuck and I wasn’t happy with them so I’ve stayed with my tried-and-true round waffle maker. However, I have heard this griddle/waffle maker is pretty decent and it makes four square waffles. Good luck on your search!

This is my favorite waffle recipe!! Thank you! Never would have thought to put shredded cheese on them but now it’s a “must” anytime we make waffles! One question though – how in the world do you only use 1/3 c. of batter at a time? I have an 8″ waffle iron and I have to use at least twice that much for one waffle, at the very least. 1/3 cup only barely fills half of the iron. Not sure if I’m doing something wrong or what! Either way, they taste amazing!!

Unbelievable waffles, they were so good. Thanks for sharing yet another amazing recipe with our little family in Rwanda! I used 1/4 c. vinegar to 1 1/2 c. milk and it worked perfectly for the buttermilk! Thanks.

Mel—do you ever use the buttermilk powder in your cooking, rather than fresh. I find it so much easier to have on hand, though I have found some recipes work better with it than others. Just curious if you have any thoughts. I am craving waffles for dinner, but don’t have fresh buttermilk.
ps…can’t wait to try the cheese addition!

These are wonderful! For those of you who are skeptics, I was too, but I trust Mel’s food wholeheartedly! My picky, plain food 16 year old loves them too! It isn’t a strong flavor, but gives it an added crispiness that makes it more of a professional waffle Thanks Mel.

Hi Mel! I don’t know how I wandered onto your site, but now I can’t imagine life without it/you!! Son says waffles are “really really good”, and since we have waffles once or twice a week, that is high praise I cut fresh nectarine onto my batter, and blueberries onto his. Making your French bread for French dips tomorrow night!

You saved the day again Mel! Made these for dinner on a whim and they were delicious. Subbed 1 cup Whole Wheat flour in and added 2 heaping tbsp. of ground flaxseed hoping it would make up for my lack of Sunday dinner planning. I had to add some skim milk to thin the batter out properly but they were delicious. I can always count on your recipes turning out perfectly.

Thank you for your wonderful recipes. I always meal plan with your blog and we have many “tried and true” recipes of yours that we eat regularly. Love this waffle recipe- I have a big family so I usually triple the recipe- and I felt a little guilty using so much butter- so I cut the butter amount in half and couldn’t taste any difference. (Just a little calorie cutting tip). You are awesome!!

I went yesterday and bought a waffle maker just so I could make these for the kids and I tonight while Dh was working. I got 6 waffles from the mix, took about 1:50 to cook each waffle so not only are they incredibly tasty they are also super fast to make. The kids all asked if we could have them for breakfast tomorrow too and one DD is already asking to try the brownie waffle recipe we saw on your site.
Thank you for another great recipe.

Not sure why it took me so long to find these on your website. I’ve been coming to you for recipes for over two years now, and this morning was the first time I tried these. Best waffles I’ve ever made (husband agrees). Thanks for all your work…my family appreciates the good food you inspire in our lives.

Thank you for the updates to this recipe! I am so happy that this recipe works with half the butter and whole wheat flour. I made the original recipe and the waffles were AMAZING, just as promised. But I haven’t made them since then because I just couldn’t bring myself to throw a whole stick of butter into one little batch of waffles. Now I can’t wait to make these again!

I saw this post linked from your Overnight Waffles post. I was wondering if you could make the batter for these the night before as well and refrigerate til the morning. That would certainly make for less hectic mornings!

I cant get these to look like yours! Should the batter be thick? Mine was very thin, even after adding a bit more flour. I fear I may have overmixed it? The end result was thin and flimsy, not at all like the ones in your photo. They tasted good, though. Will just need to work on the presentation.

So I am pregnant and was craving waffles SO badly yesterday and I remembered that Carrian at Oh Sweet Basil had given me the link to your buttermilk waffles and said they were her favorite. So I made them this morning (with 1 cup of white wheat subbed in) and topped them with bananas and my buttermilk syrup…oh my goodness I thought I died and went to heaven. They SO hit the spot for me and my husband ate SO many of them. They will be our new go to recipe! Thanks so much…I might have to make them again tomorrow…

I made a double batch of these yesterday morning–12 of them. They were really good. We actually liked them reheated/toasted in the oven on both sides today than right out of the waffle maker. They were a little soft coming out of the machine, but crisped up really nicely after being toasted. I used to use a waffle recipe from Everyday Reading, which I really loved, but realized it had way too much oil in it (although they were very crispy!). I like this one because I used the lower amount of fat (and did use all white whole wheat flour). Very yummy breakfast/dinner recipe.